All the Details on the First Electrified Porsche 911

MotorTrend

MotorTrend's Technical Director shares the inside scoop of Porsche's new lightweight T-Hybrid system's new 3.6-liter electrically-turbocharged engine.

Transcript

00:00I'm Frank Marcus, and I'm here outside Weissach, Germany, getting a first look at

00:10the first 911 to be electrified.

00:13Behold, the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS.

00:17Now, with this car, Porsche is introducing its new lightweight T-hybrid system.

00:22In contrast to the E-hybrid systems that power the Panamera and Cayenne P-HEV models, this

00:28one is optimized for maximum performance at minimum weight.

00:33Comparing this GTS with its predecessor, base car to base car, the difference is about 110

00:38pounds.

00:39Now, the good news is, power more than compensates for that.

00:42The old car had 473 horsepower.

00:45This one makes 532.

00:47That means that each horse has about a little bit more than a half pound less to carry around

00:52with it.

00:53Porsche says that this should cut about four-tenths of a second off the zero to 60 time, making

00:57it down to around 2.9 seconds.

01:00It's unusual for Porsche to launch a new generation of 911 with a GTS model, but frankly the world

01:06has waited and fretted long enough about what an electrified 911 will be like.

01:10Well, we can all relax.

01:11It's going to be fine.

01:13This 992.2 generation car also gets freshened up front, consolidating all lighting functions

01:19into these new 17,000 pixel headlamps.

01:22The fascia air inlets feature new vertical air shutters.

01:26The rear fascia is also redesigned.

01:28Inside, there's an all-new digital instrument cluster that allows for different configurations,

01:33including a sports setup and a tachometer that's rotated so that at redline, the needle

01:37points straight up, just like on race cars.

01:40The chassis leverages the 400-volt electrical system to power the PDCC active anti-roll

01:45bars and front-end lift system, making both work much more quickly.

01:49Rear axle steering is also now standard, along with heated seats and a handful of other features.

01:54The mass of these systems is partially offset by deleting the rear seats.

01:59Adding them back in is a no-cost option.

02:01So what's different about the T-Hybrid?

02:03It relies on an electrified turbo powered by the same 400-volt electrical energy that

02:07gets stored in a 1.9 kilowatt-hour battery every time the car slows down.

02:12But the engine connected to that big single turbocharger is also entirely new and now

02:16displaces 3.6 liters.

02:19So we have a bigger engine powered by a big single turbocharger.

02:23That's a recipe for nasty turbo lag.

02:25The solution to this is this tiny electric motor placed right between the exhaust and

02:29intake turbines.

02:30Lower the throttle and this little guy spins up to near its 120,000 RPM top speed in fractions

02:36of a second, allowing the turbo to deliver full boost in well under a second, whereas

02:40the current 3-liter twin-turbo needs about three seconds to spool up.

02:44More good news?

02:45Instead of a wastegate, this little turbine motor uses surplus exhaust pressure to regenerate

02:50electricity and return it to the battery.

02:52The numbers?

02:53The 3.6-liter turbo by itself makes 478 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque.

02:59The permanent magnet electric motor, which also serves as the flywheel and is bolted

03:03directly to both the engine and the startup clutch in the PDK transmission, makes 55 horsepower

03:08and 110 pound-feet.

03:10Altogether the system delivers 532 horsepower and 449 pound-feet.

03:15Porsche reckons the system can scoot the 911 GTS to 60 miles an hour in 2.9 seconds and

03:20get it around the Nürburgring in 7 minutes, 16.93 seconds.

03:24One slight bummer?

03:25For some folks, the T-Hybrid system does not work with a manual transmission.

03:29The hybrid battery is about the size of a modern starter battery and is mounted directly

03:33above the front axle for optimal weight distribution.

03:36The 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS and Carrera 4 GTS will be available in coupe, cabriolet,

03:44and targa forms.

03:45The price will start at $166,895 when they go on sale this fall.

03:50For more first drive and first test reviews of this and every other cool car, keep it

03:54tuned to MotorTrend.

Category

Transcript

Recommended